"Awakening of the Beast" is an uneven but brilliantly good film when it wants to be.
**SPOILERS**
A rampant drug problem is spreading throughout Brazil, forcing citizens to engage in dangerous, elicit behavior including, drug trafficking, prostitution and gang-rapes. The authorities are at a loss, as half blame popular film creation Ze do Caixao, (Jose Mojica Marins) while some don't see the threat. When Marins himself is brought in to defend his films he has made, he is unsuccessful in changing anyone's opinions of his art. With a larger audience than ever exposed to his films, Marins and Caixao are more popular than ever, and this makes the leaders even more nervous. In an effort to conduct an experiment, one manages to give several members of the population a drug and expose them to a Marins film, and while under the influence, they each begin to have crazy nightmares and insane visions of Ze do Caixao torturing them in a Hell-like underground.
The News: This is perhaps the most wildly uneven film of all time. The first half is series of small segments about perversion and drug abuse, while the second half is an LSD-fueled nightmare about the different tortures committed by the main villain, and the difference in tone is quite apparent. The first half, which recounts the drug problem, does have it's fair share of moments, including the abuse and eventual rape of the school-girl by a gang inside an apartment building that is, at times, pretty painful to watch mainly for the acts and ideas presented rather than the execution of them. Bringing in a Jesus Christ-dressed figure into proceedings is a pretty wild idea, and to show the perversion through shadows on the wall is a really chilling image, but in truth there really isn't much to it. Some talk in a darkened room by authority figures, then a short skit about drug abuse and delinquent acts and repeating itself is essentially what happens, and they don't really offer much. The idea behind them is what gives the film it's horror rather than the actual execution of everything, so unless the ideas of what's happening are frightening or reprehensible, then the first half just simply seems like an eternity of just simply boring acts over and over again and is in dire need of fast-forwarding. There's really no reason why the foursome, modeling agency and the teenagers' crime spree scenes even had to be here, they're just boring and don't even offer up scares of any kind. They're just there and don't really come to anything. That's the worst part, as the idea is there, and it's a really clever and unique one, and offers up limitless potential with creativity and originality. However, what really turns the film around and just about redeems it is the second half, most specifically the torture scene. It's so clever and unique that it's almost a crime. To not only switch the film over into full-color and ditch black-and-white like the rest of the film, but the segment is simply fantastic. From the weird images and ideas to the simply fantastic, it is nearly impossible to look away from the screen at the sheer genius provided. With flaming towers of rock, disappearing coffins, flashing skulls and rise of the undead are just a few examples of what occurs during this time, and the incredible length of it, being relegated to over twenty minutes and likely longer, this is undeniably fun and manages to keep the viewer's interest. Of course, most of this is likely due to this part being the only time Coffin Joe actually appears in the film, and that in itself is worthy of viewing. The hypnotic flashing colors don't hurt either, making it a real feast for the eyes as well with it's abundant blues, greens, reds, and blacks. It's also quite nice, and a little shocking, to see the amount of sleaze and nudity in it, as there's a lot more than might be expected. This here is really good when it wants to be.
The Final Verdict: With one of the greatest sequences of all time in it, with the sequence at the end, this is a really good experience, it's just that it comes at the end of a really hard-to-swallow section of film. If you're a Coffin Joe fan, this might be entertaining, but he's not the main star, and this is really recommended for those who want a taste of something new and original.
Rated UN/R: Rampant drug use, Violence, Nudity and some Language
**SPOILERS**
A rampant drug problem is spreading throughout Brazil, forcing citizens to engage in dangerous, elicit behavior including, drug trafficking, prostitution and gang-rapes. The authorities are at a loss, as half blame popular film creation Ze do Caixao, (Jose Mojica Marins) while some don't see the threat. When Marins himself is brought in to defend his films he has made, he is unsuccessful in changing anyone's opinions of his art. With a larger audience than ever exposed to his films, Marins and Caixao are more popular than ever, and this makes the leaders even more nervous. In an effort to conduct an experiment, one manages to give several members of the population a drug and expose them to a Marins film, and while under the influence, they each begin to have crazy nightmares and insane visions of Ze do Caixao torturing them in a Hell-like underground.
The News: This is perhaps the most wildly uneven film of all time. The first half is series of small segments about perversion and drug abuse, while the second half is an LSD-fueled nightmare about the different tortures committed by the main villain, and the difference in tone is quite apparent. The first half, which recounts the drug problem, does have it's fair share of moments, including the abuse and eventual rape of the school-girl by a gang inside an apartment building that is, at times, pretty painful to watch mainly for the acts and ideas presented rather than the execution of them. Bringing in a Jesus Christ-dressed figure into proceedings is a pretty wild idea, and to show the perversion through shadows on the wall is a really chilling image, but in truth there really isn't much to it. Some talk in a darkened room by authority figures, then a short skit about drug abuse and delinquent acts and repeating itself is essentially what happens, and they don't really offer much. The idea behind them is what gives the film it's horror rather than the actual execution of everything, so unless the ideas of what's happening are frightening or reprehensible, then the first half just simply seems like an eternity of just simply boring acts over and over again and is in dire need of fast-forwarding. There's really no reason why the foursome, modeling agency and the teenagers' crime spree scenes even had to be here, they're just boring and don't even offer up scares of any kind. They're just there and don't really come to anything. That's the worst part, as the idea is there, and it's a really clever and unique one, and offers up limitless potential with creativity and originality. However, what really turns the film around and just about redeems it is the second half, most specifically the torture scene. It's so clever and unique that it's almost a crime. To not only switch the film over into full-color and ditch black-and-white like the rest of the film, but the segment is simply fantastic. From the weird images and ideas to the simply fantastic, it is nearly impossible to look away from the screen at the sheer genius provided. With flaming towers of rock, disappearing coffins, flashing skulls and rise of the undead are just a few examples of what occurs during this time, and the incredible length of it, being relegated to over twenty minutes and likely longer, this is undeniably fun and manages to keep the viewer's interest. Of course, most of this is likely due to this part being the only time Coffin Joe actually appears in the film, and that in itself is worthy of viewing. The hypnotic flashing colors don't hurt either, making it a real feast for the eyes as well with it's abundant blues, greens, reds, and blacks. It's also quite nice, and a little shocking, to see the amount of sleaze and nudity in it, as there's a lot more than might be expected. This here is really good when it wants to be.
The Final Verdict: With one of the greatest sequences of all time in it, with the sequence at the end, this is a really good experience, it's just that it comes at the end of a really hard-to-swallow section of film. If you're a Coffin Joe fan, this might be entertaining, but he's not the main star, and this is really recommended for those who want a taste of something new and original.
Rated UN/R: Rampant drug use, Violence, Nudity and some Language